Well said, Sparc.
how about addressing the point that was made:
A. you specifically called Gary a liar, that there was ‘no evidence’ of you gloating.
B. several of us pointed out specific posts of yours that we interpreted as ‘gloating’.
Therefore at best you were hasty at calling him a liar.
I attempted in my first post to you, to give you an out, that you were perhaps ‘unaware’ at how your words sounded to others.
the fact that you’ve made no attempt to acknowledge that your word choice was abysmal, and instead continue to heap condemnation on the others (calling us ‘whiners’ for suggesting that you were gloating) for our misinterpreting your words (*to be differentiated from misreading), demonstrates how very appropriate Gary’s response to you was.
Again- in my first post to you, I was giving you an out, allowing that perhaps your words were poorly chosen, but you’ve failed repeatedly to acknowledge that simple fact.
Petty.
Thanks, but you might edit a little further to clarify the context:
"“I am the Anus of Gary Kumquat.” – re. Efram, as reported by Doghouse Reilly
This might be a bad idea, but just in case anyone missed it:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=119009
It does have some insightful comments from the man himself on his posting style.
For my own opinion, I have little to add that hasn’t already been said: Unfortunate loss, but not surprising.
In the case of the Collounsbury, what can be done?
Once there was one, and now there is none.
Fuck Sparc you just don’t get it do you? If Collounsbury followed the rules, he would have referenced his ad hominems to the pit like everyone else. and thus there was no need to tone done his responses at all.
Secondly, this board does not tolerate bigots. I recently e-mailed a mod on a bigoted OP, and the offender was swiftly banned and his/her thread locked.
Dammit, now I’m trying to remember if I ever exploded at you. Did I? Did you call me a dick?
The thing is, if I did then I was. I admit it.
But:
a) Very little will ever compare to the bigotry-in-sheeps-clothing that Col dealt with again and again. I see the very ideas he railed against as being the escalation of words that ended with his shouting. IMO he wasn’t responding to civility with wrath, he was responding to brutality with wrath. A very different situation to the minor economic hand-wringing we engage in.
b) And anyway, at the end of the day I don’t care that much if people are being a dick whilst arguing over ideas. It isn’t necessarily a good way to get those ideas across to your audience. And persistent being-a-dick is not going to endear anyone to me. But at it just isn’t that big a deal. Whereas Col was dealing with crap that most certainly is a big deal. To me, it wasn’t him displaying the overwhelming jerkitude.
No? I’ve seen the majority arguing that he deserved his banning and barely a murmur suggesting that the morons he dealt with did too. If behaviour A is worthy of banning then behaviour B that is more offensive than behaviour A certainly deserves it too. As such I can only conclude that people think that Coll’s crime was the more heinous.
I see what you’re saying but, as my old maths teacher would say, it’s dangerous to extrapolate. Certainly there’s nothing to suggest that I say any response is acceptable. Physical violence or actual harm (whether physical or not) would most certainly not be acceptable, for example. However. responding to such vile ideas with frustrated ire in your words on a message board… well that I find understandable. Indeed, I find it not as bad as the original offense that such words were responding too.
No, I wouldn’t. So this apparent inconsistency is either a flaw in your analogy or a flaw in myself. Somehow I feel quite comfortable.
As I say, it isn’t the banning I object to so much as the subsequent rush to nod sagely and dismiss him. The mods know what they know and I wish them well. We do not and I find it sad that Col’s words have been judged more offensive than his opponents’ ideas.
pan
I am in complete agreement that there are incredibly offensive bigots whom Col skewered, much to my delight. I also found (long before Col’s demise) their continued presence offensive, both for their bigotry and their willfull ignorance. In fact a few of the most willfully ignorant who return to the same tired chants, repeatedly, are the ones who often evoke in me a desire to smash skulls (or, at least, typing fingers). Unfortunately, enforcing rules that address willfull ignorance and bigotry are subject to the perspective of the owners of the oxen, so we are stuck with rules that address explicit behavior.
I don’t think I have defended their actions, here, only responding to specific points in the interests of promoting the Straight Dope. I think that we have suffered a loss, however, I also think that Col went out on his own terms. He was not sandbagged or ambushed. The rules were clear and he acknowledged that he was in violation–even professing, in his last Pitting, the desire that he be offered no preferential treatment.
Oh god help me, whatever December caught is spreading!
I’m just trying to understand why you’re claiming such familiarity with my anus. Suppose I should be flattered, but I’m a happily married man and you’re just not my type - sorry.
now, now Gary, just 'cause Anthracite is a conservative and just posted a poetic response is no reason to well, be ‘cold’ to her… 
Of course, the purpose of the message board is fighting ignorance, and bullcrap is a part of ignorance.
The purpose of the board is NOT fighting abusive behaviour.
Yeah, you might. 
I’m just worried if it starts to mutate. Next we’ll have singing liberals, and libertarians doing performance art.
sorry to break it to ya hon, but that’s already happening…
Kabbes
Almost everyone has some bigotry toward someone or something. Blind hate is an equal opportunity affliction.
Some people hate Christians. Some hate Jews. Some hate Blacks. Some hate Indians. Gay people. People who drink. People who don’t. People who eat boogers. People who are ignorant. Fascists. White Supremacists. Black Panthers. Politicians. All these people and countless others are targets of bigotry. They are practitioners, too. Sometimes, they hate each other.
Well, in keeping with the Tolkien/SDMB mythos we’re creating here, we do have pictures . . .
RickJay wrote:
The purpose of the board isn’t fighting trolls either, but do you suggest they not be banned? The board can have a purpose as well as have a set of standards.
I didn’t see what December said. I just read some Edward Gorey, and the meter was fresh in my mind.
I think it expresses what I feel. Since we are on Page 5, heading for Page 6, it seems that everyone needs to jump in with either condemnation, support, or ambivalence at this point.
grieny your comprehension of discrete reality beggars, even to the point of putting a shadow over your deeply flawed capacity to comprehend the written that is right in front of you. Then again, maybe it is as you say that I am the one that just doesn’t fucking get it. I’ll let others sit in judgment over that.
I agree and see this point quite clearly as well, therefore I am not screaming out loud about a large injustice having been done, at least I don’t mean to come across as I am screaming. What I am attacking are those that once cried foul and favoritism while either silently letting bigot slurs slip, or even worse while personally spouting them a dozen a minute and the members who embrace ignorance with such repeated stubbornness that they eventually resemble debate automata, or just make me think of the fishing industry.
For the sake of clarity I never meant to infer that Tom, or Sua had defended any bigotry.
Sparc